Long Range Discrimination Radar Passes Critical Design Review

On November 16, the Long Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR) passed the Missile Defense Agency’s Critical Design Review (CDR). The completion of the CDR means that hardware and software components have achieved Technology Readiness Level 7 and Manufacturing Readiness Level 7, and are ready to enter the fabrication, demonstration, and testing phase of the program. To this effect, the program began low-rate manufacturing in October, and is preparing to begin full-rate manufacturing in mid-2018. The system is scheduled to go online in Clear AFS, Alaska in 2020.

The LRDR is a long-range S-band radar system that will improve tracking and discrimination of ballistic missile threats by better identifying warheads, decoys, and debris. The radar has been designed with an open systems architecture to accommodate future technology developments.

Missile Threat brings together a wide range of information and analyses relating to the proliferation of cruise and ballistic missiles around the world and the air and missile defense systems designed to defeat them. Missile Threat is a product of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

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